In his time, Michael Essien was quite simply a behemoth in the middle of the park. Emerging from a class of hard-nosed yet classy midfielders which permeated the fabric of the English top-flight in the early 2000s, the Ghanaian played a major part in the establishment of Chelsea as a domestic powerhouse in England.

Jose Mourinho and Didier Drogba enjoyed a very amiable manager-player relationship when they worked together at Chelsea, and in a recent television show, the pair demonstrated the bond that they formed during their time at Stamford Bridge.

Many football fans would forget that Mohamed Salah played for Chelsea between 2014 and 2016, as he only made 19 appearances. The Egyptian was signed by the Blues in January 2014 for a reported £11 million but his move never really took off and he spent half of the title-winning 2014/15 campaign on loan to Fiorentina as he went in search of regular first-team football. AS Roma then took Salah on loan with the option of a £15 million permanent deal at the end of the loan period, which they took with open arms.

Chelsea returned to the top four in the Premier League with a hard-fought victory over former manager Jose Mourinho’s side. The pressure was very much on the Blues following a poor result in the Champions League but Antonio Conte’s men delivered when it mattered.